Battle of the Buliok Complex

Battle of the Buliok Complex
Part of the Moro conflict
Barangay Buliok is located in Pagalungan, Maguindanao province
Date 11 February 2003[1] Location Pagalungan, Maguindanao, Philippines 6°58′09″N 124°45′07″E / 6.9693°N 124.7520°E / 6.9693; 124.7520 Result Philippine government victory
Belligerents
Philippines Armed Forces of the Philippines	Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Commanders and leaders
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Narciso Abaya	Salamat Hashim Murad Ebrahim
Casualties and losses
8 killed[2]	161 killed[2] (Philippine government source) 40 killed[2] (MILF source)
7 civilians killed[2] 41,000 residents displaced[2][3] 3[2] - 100[1] evacuees died

The Battle of the Buliok Complex took place on 11 February 2003 in an area within the provinces of Maguindanao and Cotabato in Mindanao, Philippines. The 60-hectare complex,^[4] which stretches from Pikit, Cotabato to Pagalungan, Maguindanao, was a stronghold of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Accused by the Philippine government of harboring members of Pentagon,^[1][2][4] a notorious kidnap-for-ransom gang operating in Mindanao, the MILF was attacked in the Buliok complex by the Armed Forces of the Philippines under orders from then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.